False Opinion

The Mets introduced Jason Bay to the media on Tuesday. They also sent him outside to pose in his new #44 jersey with Citi Field as a sparkling backdrop.

Unfortunately he wasn't sufficiently bundled in the 25 degree weather, and was immediately placed on the disabled list with pneumonia. He should be able to do some light running in 2-3 weeks.

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Okay, now that the obligatory injury joke is out of the way ...

"I was joking with my wife that I learned a lot about myself this offseason through the opinions that people had. People are going to have an opinion. I have no problem with that. But passing them off as the way I feel when I had never spoken to anybody, those are the ones that kind of take on a life of their own." -Jason Bay

It's not like Bay was going to go to the dais on Tuesday and tell the New York media: "Well yeah, I wanted to play in a smaller ballpark. But I was priced out of Boston, the Cubs never called me, and the property taxes in Beirut are brutal, eh? So here I am."

No, that wasn't going to happen. He was coached to be sure ... anywhere from the minimal: "make sure you address your apathy towards the dimensions because they'll ask you about that" to the other extreme: "Don't say Beirut, don't say Beirut, don't say Beirut". From what I heard, Bay sounded more towards the minimal. Do I believe him? I believe him the same way I believe the Boston media when they're blasting Bay for being injured or greedy or both ... which is to say: I don't know what to believe anymore. But it really doesn't matter. Because Bay isn't really going to know if he likes this ballpark until July when he either has 20 HR's and a ton of RBI's, or 7 HR's and a inferiority complex which is as fresh out of the box as a new Wii ... at which point I'll be the first one to make a Beirut joke (like I can resist.)

But as long as he has this mindset, I promise you that Jason Bay will do fine at Citi Field:

"I'm confident that the type of player I am -- ballpark or not -- I'm still gonna do what I do. So [the stadium] had zero factor in anything [to do with] my decision."

Doesn't matter if I believe what he says, as long as Bay believes it. Let's hope that wasn't one of those things he was "coached" to say.

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Best thought I ever stole: Wouldn't it have made sense for the Mets marketing people to introduce Jason Bay in the new cream colored jersey that they're trying to sell? Seriously, do we have to tell them everything?